AICHI (TR) – An elementary school boy was hit and killed by a train in Nagoya’s Nakagawa Ward on Thursday, police said, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Mar. 19).
At around 6:35 a.m., a Kansai Main Line train struck the boy, 12, on the tracks between Haruta and Hatta stations.
The impact with the train sent the boy, who suffered injuries over the length of his body, flying from the track bed and into the bank of a nearby river.
The boy, a sixth-year student living near the scene of the accident, was confirmed dead at a hospital about 45 minutes later, police said.
Squatting on the tracks
As the train approached the boy, the male driver, 51, saw him squatting on the tracks about 50 meters away. However, he was unable to stop the train in time after applying the brakes.
There were no injuries to the driver or the approximately 480 passengers on the train, police said.
Prior to the incident, a witness alerted police about “a child walking on the tracks” of the line.
The incident resulted in the suspension of trains in both directions between Nagoya and Nagoya and Kuwana stations over a two-hour period.
